Cooler Master HAF 912 Review - PAGE 1

Cooler Master has become of the big names in the computer industry since their inception in 1992. Based in Taiwan, and with manufacturing facilities in China, the CM brand has led the way in aftermarket computer hardware with a focus on cases and cooling solutions. While they have since branched out into the power supply and server markets, their course remains true when it comes to computer cases: well-built, innovative, and practical, as we will see here today with the Cooler Master 912 HAF.

The 912 HAF is a sturdy and rugged mid-tower case that is full of hard angles and bold corners, giving this case quite the military appearance in that "no-nonsense", "I can eat a tank round" manner. Don't let that fool you however, as this case has quite a number of features that I would have only expected in a more expensive full-tower case.

Specifications

Material

Case Body: Steel
Front Bezel: Mesh and Plastic

I/O Ports

USB 2.0 x 2, Mic x 1, Headphones x 1

Dimensions
(W x H x D)

230 x 480 x 496 mm
9.1 x 18.9 x 19.5 inches

Weight

8.07 kg / 17.8 lbs

Supported Motherboard
form-factor

Micro ATX or ATX

5.25" Drive Bays

4 exposed

3.5" Drive Bays

6 hidden
1 exposed
(converted from 5.25")

2.5" Drive Bays

4 hidden
(two converted form 3.5")

Expansion Slots

7 + 1 vertical

Power Supply

Std. ATX PS2/EPS 12V
(Max length: 190mm)

Six 3.5" hard drives in a mid-tower case is quite a feat. I have used some full tower cases that can barely fit that many under the hood. The boffins at Cooler Master did not stop there however, as you can also stuff up to four optical drives (or just stock up on more hard drives in my opinion), and two SSD's in the 2.5" format! That is an obscene amount of potential storage in a case of this size.

How on Earth did they manage to to that you ask? Well... read on and you will see!

Comments

impressive case, though i found the lack of cpu cooling performance to be my dealbreaker. though for 60 bucks, i guess i wouldnt mind recommending this to others in need of a good case that isnt overly expensive.

Apparently in the US it is quite the competitor to the Antec 300, unfortunately atm I've only ever seen it being about £10 more expensive than the 300 in the UK, which is £60, where there are more options and it isn't necessarily the best option, mostly for aesthetic reasons tho. And neither of them are particularly strong budget options being over £50.

this case has better average cooling performance than the Cooler Master 932

???? Whaaaaa ???? In the graphs shown in the review, the only time the 912 had better cooling was in the last HDD temps. All the other temps were higher, sometimes significantly higher, esp. the CPU temps which are probably the most important, or at least as important as the GPU temps. Other than the single off-base comment, I found the review to be well done and well written. Nice work, and nice case!

hiigaranYeah it is a pretty nifty case for not much money. The Antec 300 which was is my go-to case for years is pretty much the exact same price at the moment and I don't like the hard drive configuration quite as much as in this case.

duneworldNot quite sure if you are saying that the 300 or the 912 has more options.... But I think they are about evenly matched. Here are my thoughts: The hard drive cages are better oriented in the 912, The cooling is better out-of-the-box in the 300, the aesthetics are simpler in the 300, there are dedicated spots for SSD's in the 912.

dlbI think that the 912 could do much better in cooling, but you would need to modify things in order to improve air flow and management. I am not sure as to why this case posted the temps it did. It certainly has enough fans in it to move a good quantity of air.

I really think they should have painted the insides black, cause the way it is just makes it look like a plain jane ugly case on the inside.

Not sure why the hdd wires are toward the outside? Well since there's not really a window panel it really doesn't matter, just commits to the ugly like an ugly chick with jacked up war-paint. I guess the way it's wired up it doesn't seem like it was done in such a way to show the case can support as good of wire management as the holes and design seem to possibly allow.

Exactly what size is there allowed to fit GPU in?

Are you really saving money though if you have to run out and byof (buy your own fans)? Gives you more options. I think maybe I could take a liking to the case the more I look at it. Maybe it's intended to be 'UV' ready lol.

Outside looks decent, similar to other HAF cases.Do the fans that come with it light up?

duneworldNot quite sure if you are saying that the 300 or the 912 has more options.... But I think they are about evenly matched. Here are my thoughts: The hard drive cages are better oriented in the 912, The cooling is better out-of-the-box in the 300, the aesthetics are simpler in the 300, there are dedicated spots for SSD's in the 912.

I was saying that in the UK there are more high quality options for cases at the £60 price point, so the HAF 912 Plus is just one of many options; it is not a clear winner.I think that the HAF 912 is a much better case than the Antec 300, and a price difference of £10 isn't significant enough to make me think the Antec 300 is the better option, again, it's just that the HAF 912 isn't the clear winner at £60, it definitely would be at £50.

Gravity, there is actually a version of the case, the HAF 912 Plus that has a black interior, which is the version which is widely available in the UK.

With the top harddrive bay left installed you can fit a graphics card up to 27cm in length, which would be enough for a 6970 or original reference 5870 or GTX 580 and the like, but not a 5970, if you remove the top harddrive bay there isn't anything it can't fit.

Ah ok, that's what I was wondering about the card size because I thought that looked awfully tight in there with a 5870 if someone was going to fit in a 5970. I very unlikely would ever get something like a 5970 regardless though but good to be assured these other cards can fit with the cages in.